Tom Barber's Website

Chicago 2005:

Mike and I set off an a quest to experience baseball in one great shrines to the sport, Wrigley Field.

The lobby of our hotel, the Palmer House Hilton:

The view from our hotel room window:

er... the actual view:

A fountain in Chicago:

WAKE UP... you lazy fountain!

The first beer:

What's this, another fountain?:

And still another:

Here I am questioning a local as to why Chicago seems to have so many fountains projecting water everywhere:

The jerk never responded.

Mike and I got in a little mini-putt:

And appreciated some fine stained glass at the Navy Pier:

We saw a giant mirror ball contraption:

Listened to some gospel music:

We went on a free trolley ride:

( We look annoyed because we are both tired and hot)

The next series of pictures I call Mike and the Sears Tower:

Here is Mike on his own:

And here's the Sears Tower:

(Mike later climbed the Sears Tower)

Off to U.S. Cellular Field, AKA new Comiskey Park:

I enjoy a kosher hot dog with fried mushrooms and onions:

And Mike and I enjoy a pleasant afternoon at the ball game:

Mike and I were off next to the Adler Planetarium and I discovered what I already knew, I'm hot, damn hot:

(Which one am I? Can you guess?)

Mike and I got a little lost...but soon Mike figured out where we were on a map:

Mike gets a lesson in the ancient study of astronomy:

Off to the aquarium and Mike makes friends with a piranha:

Then it was off to the museum where Mike posed for a picture with a nice girl named Sue:

(Then sue ate the guy in the red shirt for walking through my shot)

HELP! I'm trapped in barnacle exhibit...

I couldn't afford the price of admission so I worked it off by building a pyramid:

(That stone was pretty heavy)

Mike has found himself in a precarious situation:

(For some reason he seems unconcerned)

Then it was to see our beloved Blue Jays play for the first time ever at the Mecca of baseball stadiums.Wrigley Field:

Here we are in our seats in the bleachers:

Which were packed well before game time with boisterous and friendly Cubs fans:

Here's our view of the field accompanied by the head of Don, our friendly usher:

Wrigley truly is a great place to see a ball game:

What is not pictured is the ball that Mike got after it was tossed into the bleachers by the Blue Jays centre fielder Vernon Wells. The ball was coming right to me but someone got their hand above mine and knocked the ball away. Then there was a mad scramble for the ball and I fell onto my ass and am happy to report that I only spilled a bit of my beer and Mike grabbed the loose ball.

The confines at Wrigley are truly friendly, there was a lot of jeering but it was all good-natured.expect when I mentioned Bartman, that is still a sore spot, just an FYI.

The day after the game Mike and I got us some culture:

(Mike is secretly a commie)

Here I am at the Sears Tower:

Mike and I also listened to some great live jazz at the Underground Wonder while I sipped on one of the greatest martinis I have ever had and smoked Marlboros.

Mike and I also had some great deep-dish pizza at Pizzeria Due and an amazing steak dinner at Harry Caray's.

But before we left we went to Wrigley one last time: